Another Black gaming lead - does race matter?

Remember Me looks like offering a black lead character in an industry where black leading roles are quite rare.

[RaidensRising]

Other than her skin colour the character itself has no distinguishing features.

[Blacklash93]

No less distiguisable than most western videogame characters. Does she need a tattoo or a scar or something? Her character design looks quite good to me in her second outfit in those screens.

Anyway, I don't care about a (main) character's skin color. Or their sex or whatever else. As long as they're a *good* character.

[wishingW3L]

Generic has been one of the main features of this gen when it comes to character models, art-style and even gameplay.

[AAACE5]

Doesnt matter as long as they dont just focus on stereotypes. It feeds a negative image. The stereotype thing irritates me so much because i always have suburban raised mfs trying to relate to me trying to sound like they from the hood!

Malibus most wanted type sh!t! And even worse... these younger generation mfs got them thinking its alright to say n***a!

What the f is the world comin to?

[Muerte2494]

argument simply because Walking Dead's lead character was black. Like Blacklash93, mentioned before, it just has to be a good character with a compelling story. Duke Nukem had a white male as the main character and it still bombed. But lets just be honest here, the black protagonist (if you want to call him that) that we really want, is SPAWN!!!! Someone should have definitely made a Spawn games using Arkham City's combat system. Using he cape for stealth gameplay.

[Excalibur]

Nope, don't care if they are white, black, yellow or purple as long as you make the game fun and interesting to play.

[Inception]

Hey, i want a game with blueman as lead character :D

[zealot_x]

I suggest Rogue Trooper and Soul Reaver 1, 2, Defiance
:-)
http://tinyurl.com/troop12

[ShugaCane]

I'm sure the author had good intentions writing this article but honestly, asking such a question just gives credit to those who think the answer is yes.

[_LarZen_]

Was just about to write the same, why even bring up the question....

Normal people ofc don't care. Sub humans will...but they are trash and nobody cares about trash.

[Ashlen]

That was my impression as well.

[WildArmed]

Indeed, I think it's be silly if we start asking why aren't there more Latino/Indian/Chinese/Russian protagonist.

It's not like we have not had those before. We've had games with those protagonists. And I think african american is def. more represented in gaming than most races. If someone ever asked the wondered if having a "black" protagonist equates to low sales, I'd simply point them to GTA:SA.

Same with female protagonists, we have them. And we do truly love those games, we do not discriminate because she isn't a "white" male (RE-franchise).

[ninjahunter]

Depends how the character is portrayed really, if you go all stereotypical, youl get a lot of flack for something stupid like "you hate black people because you put a black chick in your game". If you make a good character, like alyx vance who is blasian (black + asian), then you will probably get better results than block of meat white male with brown hair.

[EZMickey]

I personally think it does matter, but to the industry more than the game itself. I love this medium and I want it to grow and mature, tackling issues like race and sex, the kind of which people respond most sensitively to, is an important part of that in my opinion.

[Allsystemgamer]

Wait...she's black? I thought she was just dark tone?! She doesn't have any black features at all!

[zebramocha]

I think it is her eyes color throwing people of,if it were brown she would look more like Halle berry.

[ApolloTheBoss]

I was thinking the same thing.

[Sarcasm]

That's the same thing I was thinking. She doesn't look remotely black to me. She looks more Puerto Rican or something.

[Pozzle]

I had no idea she was meant to be half-black either. It's good to see a mixed-raced female character, but I still find her character design kind of...safe and generic looking.

It'd be pretty cool if Capcom just went balls-out and gave her dark skin or natural hair or more traditionally African features. Design a protagonist who looks like these women and tell any haters/racists to shove it...

[aliengmr]

100% agree.

[aliengmr]

That's what I thought.

@zebramocha

Agree, but I feel there is something else missing as well in terms of the physical shape. The "bone structure" seems a bit generic.

[Smashbro29]

If she's black then so is Jade from Beyond Good and Evil.

She really seems like more of that ambiguous color companies seek out for commercials.

[dennett316]

Nope, don't care what colour, creed, religion or sexuality a game character is....never have, never will. Just make me a damn good game.
If you want to make a story revolving around race or whatever, well that's fine, but I don't see any game being brave enough to tackle any really meaty issues, certainly not with any competence.

I remember someone back in the PS1 days complaining that the hands of the character in Alien Trilogy were white and not black. The fact that the hands belonged to the character of Ellen Ripley, portrayed by the very white Sigourney Weaver, didn't seem to enter that person's mind - they just wanted to make an issue out of something. People need to stop projecting their hang ups onto games and other forms of media.

[Linsolv]

Quick name ten black video game characters go.

(I'll wait)

Oh, you had to google it? That's ok. I understand.

Now name ten white video game characters.

We've got Mass Effect, done. If you need I can name them for the count, but suffice to say that in a game that is surprisingly cosmopolitan not only by having tons of aliens, but more black people per title than some games have per series, by the end of the 2nd game if we count DLC, we have:

4 (5 if we count the guy who dies in the first mission) white characters, 2 black (Udina and Anderson) in the first game. Actually a really impressive ratio.

Mass Effect 2, on the other hand, adds 4 (6 if we count temporary characters, again, which puts us over 10) white characters [though the Illusive man was in ME1, he was a villain, so his anti-protagonist role in ME2 adds him to the list], and 1 black character.

Mass Effect 3 adds 3 more white characters as shipmates, no new black characters (maybe Samanthan Traynor, I do not know what her racial background is; I'd always assumed she was Arabic or something)

Why is that so much easier?

[WildArmed]

Just go clarify:

ME3 Shepard race would be altered. You didn't have to be "White".

Similarly, one of the biggest games in the history of gaming has a "black" protagonist:
GTA:San Andreas.

It really isn't the race of the protagonist that determines the sales or the quality of the game.

[jefejose]

I like the design, what annoys me its the voice of her! change it!

[ApolloTheBoss]

I say why not? We need more black people and other races as main characters anyway. I'm tired of the typical angry white guy.

[brettski]

.? Too much MSNBC

[violents]

Race should only matter if you make it matter. Why would the skin color of your character change the game in any way good or bad?

[platformmaster918]

Race will stop mattering when we stop pointing it out every time someone from who's not white does something. Or rather pointing out that they ARE not white when they do something. I didn't think when I played HL2 "Gee this person helping me is black what a big deal" I just thought of her as an awesome character, but then they start talking about race and what a big deal it was for Valve to make a strong female lead and all the sudden that's all I see. Thanks a lot media.

[JAMurida]

This

There's always going to be one person that has to start something about things like this. Why can't we just look at it as "Hey, this looks like a really good game", or at least that's what I thought when I first saw the game.

[baldulf]

Who cares about race anymore, we are on the XXI century for fucks sake.

[profgerbik]

_________________

Obviously so if people still feel inclined to write articles about it or even bring it up for that matter.

[Somebody]

Race or skin colour doesn't matter much when it comes to characters. What matters is the character itself. His/her story, motivation and personality is key in making the player root for them regardless of their race. Italian plumbers, blue hedgehogs,

Unless it's a specific, non-fantasy settings like games set in classical China or medieval Japan. It would be strange if some non-region specific characters to suddenly become the protagonists in those time periods (like a white samurai warrior, a black kung fu master or a kungfu-packing Chinese Crusader). Even the main character in Far Cry 3 received some criticism for being a white guy who is the saviour of the locals. I'm curious though : would journalists still slam Far Cry 3 as racist if the developer put a black guy instead as the saviour of those locals?

[Linsolv]

If it doesn't matter if they're black, why is everyone white? It's a fair question.

If we're looking at black heroes, we've got... a (usually only one) character in every serious-toned MP game set in the modern day; Alyx Vance is debatable, since she's an NPC; Sten is also debatable, since he's not Human; Barrett and Kiros are the only FF characters I can think of off-hand, but I'll admit I only know so much...

I mean, if I were just to list the white characters from the games I've mentioned, the white list would be five to ten times longer, and that's not counting the VAST majority of Japanese games, where there aren't any black people at all, because there aren't (many) black people in Japan. And I'm not referring to games like Way of the Samurai, where there is some rational reason a black person might not be there.

DmC had no black people in it. I honestly can't remember any even walking by in the background. This is a game set in modern day America, in a large city (I would have to guess New York City). There's no excuse in that case. Except that in Japan, there's no black people.

To answer your Far Cry 3 question, that's an interesting question. If he'd been essentially the same person, but his skin color had been black, the game would probably still be racist, but I think most people wouldn't call them out on it.

And I mean, honestly, life is racist. If we're asking 'is [x] racist,' maybe. Probably, in some fields and industries. But it's not usually because people went out of their way to make it racist. No, it's because white people spend more money on games with white people, or because white people do better in interviews with white people, or because of any number of a thousand things that aren't a damn bit fair, but also aren't really in anyone's control.
It's not fair, but life's not fair.

[classic200]

I don't think its a no black people in japan situation, it's more got to do with the fact that Japan is marketing a product to European countries and america where the popuation is mostly white so they can please the masses. These area is also known as strong economic areas of the world so the japanese make everyone white in animes and games even if the character is japanese lol.

There are blacks in japan and japan is known to love hiphop and reggae culture.

[Pozzle]

It's pretty naive (dare I say, borderline racist) to assume that Japanese characters are made to look white with the intention of appealing to Western audiences. Because it's simply not true. If you said that to any Japanese person, they'd laugh.

In Japan, it is taken for granted that most anime characters (unless otherwise stated) are Japanese. For example, Sailor Moon (despite having blue eyes and blonde hair) is just as Japanese as Sailor Mars (who has black hair and brown eyes) who is just as Japanese as Sailor Neptune (who has unrealistic green hair and purple eyes). These features are never seen as strange or foreign because it is simply a part of the Japanese art style; not an attempt to look white or appeal to Westerners.

Then there's the fact that Japanese artists generally draw Westerners differently than typical anime characters (e.g. bigger jaws, bigger noses, more facial hair, etc)

Blame Osamu Tezuka (who is known as the "father of anime") for this style of anime. As a kid, Tezuka was inspired by Disney's early works like Steamboat Willie and Fleischer's Betty Boop. So when he began drawing, to him the big round faces, varied hair/eye colors and round eyes were just a characteristic of cartoon characters in general; those things were not meant to be a comment on ethnicity. They still are not.

(And I think you're thinking of Korea with the whole reggae and hip-hop thing; because those genres really aren't that popular in Japan. At least not anything compared to Korea.)

Sorry for the long post, but it really bugs me when people say that Japan (a country that is largely homogenous and very proud of their nation/race) makes their characters look like white people. Because it's simply not true. And no Japanese person would agree with it.

It's simply an art style. Just like the Simpsons are an art style (despite having no features that distinguish them as white people, we know the Simpsons are white because that's what the makers intended. Just like Japanese people know anime characters are Japanese, despite having no features that distinguish them as such).

[Igniter]

I don't see how anyone can criticize FC3 for a white character when not only the protagonist but his friends were portrayed as young immature rich white kids from the suburbs! So why is no one complaining about stereotyping whites!

[kB0]

Oh Shut up already. Its pretty obvious it matters to you since you brought up the topic.

Seriously do people not understand irony?

Articles like this, and writers like you ruin the community by making observations like these.

Also Mr.Cram Your youtube videos suck, seriously they are over the top.

Anyways, this articles is a hit machine.

Read comments ppl don't go to site.

Summary of Article:
:'( :-)

End of article.

[isa_scout]

It only matters when people like journalists bring it up. Most RPG games like mass effect can be played through as any race, gender, and even allow you to decide your sexual preference. No one cares what the main characters skin color is(if they do they have bigger problems) so why should it matter. It's all about the character development; if they put effort into making the character likeable then no gamer will even notice what tone their skin is.

[cleft5]

The character barely looks black, so much so that I like most other people didn't think she was black. Certainly not all black people are super dark skinned, but this seems pointless. The color of her skin is so light that it looks like she has a tan and the only reason we are associating her with a black character is because we are now being told she is black. Does race matter? Not when the character barely looks like anyone that is traditionally identifiable from that race. When we have a dark honey colored black character then we can start talking about this issue in earnest. Until than you have a character that we only think of as black because the developers informed us that she was.

[TheHardware]

Are you guys surprised it's a site called cram it's a site called cramgaming. Who are they who are they this is obviously an attempt to get this is obviously an attempt to get hits.

anyway she's not black she's white at 1.21 in the video check out the check out the billboard...she's obviously hiding from the police..(joking people)

furthermore this game will suck and sell extremely poorly...BA-ZINGA.

[NYC_Gamer]

I don't really pay attention or care about the color of characters skin

[Jek_Porkins]

I think the fact that people even have to bring it up is causing more issues than anything else. I think gamers just like to game, they don't usually have a deeper meaning or anything. In Dead Island I played as the black rapper, I'm white, but the guy seemed cool, skin color didn't matter.

[SilentNegotiator]

I hated being Sam B. Besides being a major stereotype, he was incredibly cruel and annoying.

[Jek_Porkins]

Who do you voodoo ?

[ATi_Elite]

I thought she was a white chick with a nice Tan LOL!

Anyway Doesn't matter as along as the game is good but it is good to add other races as lead characters to have a different twist on stories.

So far i really like the character no matter her Race cause it looks like the Devs took time to make her have some Depth instead of being Bland!

[gamernova]

I am not racist but if they makers are trying to sell sex appeal, I prefer light skinned females. Like Yuna in Final Fantasy X-2. Sure, the game was not that great but I came for the outfits lol

[jeremyj2913]

She looks more like Leona Lewis with a smaller nose. Thing is when it comes to making a good "black" character it's hard to do so without coming off as racist. The nose and lips have to be just right and the character has to exude very little to no stereotypes.

Only black character I can think of that I've ever disliked is Cole from Gears of War. He wasn't a "racist" rendition or anything he was just very stereotypical. Didn't help that everyone started calling me that after the game came out.lol

[bluetoto]

So, all blacks have the same( I'm assuming you mean big ) type of nose and lips?

I'm not understanding because I have several siblings and we ALL have different size lips/noses. Does halle barry have the same nose as whoopi goldberg?

You're black and you're saying we all look alike? You found it amusing that everyone you knew associated you with a steretype because of your skin colour? wow

[Albie360]

I do like shooting black characters.

[Psychonaut]

I want the Wayens to do a spoof horror game. I can imagin the set up: pan onto the Silent Hill sign, and a group of people look at it, and the black character crosses his arms, and turns walks away, walks away. We need more games that take self pokes. and I say the waynes cause Scary Movie 1, and 2 are great along with their new film.

They need to get into making spoof games, like a black duke nukem, or a weed superhero. (Shorty Man)

[TuxedoMoon]

If race didn't matter, then why would an article like this even pop up? RACE DOES MATTER to an extent. Almost ever other game these days feature a white guy...a white shaved head male...chin down eyes up. Star Killer, Shepard, Wesker sons, Cole, DOA5 kick boxer guy...

It's just very standard in videogames to have a white lead. When another race or a woman is the lead, the game usually gets looked at a little more. During the whole RE5 thing, one of the guys from gametrailers did explain how the public prefers white leads and why white leads are very predominant. It's basically the default when making a character and is a "normal" thing. When a black character is the lead, it's an abnormal thing...which sucks. Can't colored people get into some wacky situations too?

People do associate with characters based on their look. Why do a lot of people make themselves in mmos? Why is it that my friend's Shepards have the same skin color as themselves and isn't the default white male? They connect with characters that look like them. It may not be a huge element, but it's still something that makes a character attractive to people.

I would love to see more non-white leads in games.

[-Gespenst-]

Race is an illusion. It was a psuedo-scientific idea constructed by Americans to justify slavery / exploitative labour and legitimate the exceptional idea they had of themselves (during their expansion)

Human beings, regardless of skin colour, facial features etc. are in fact the least genetically diverse species on planet earth. People of different races are only like 0.5X different genetically- the amount of genetic material making up superficial, cosmetic, visual differences being very, very small indeed and tied closely to geographical location. Therefore you get gradations of skin colour across the face of the earth. To put it in perspective, penguins are 10X different from each other genetically, and we all know how similar they look.

The idea of race persists in abstract ideas like culture and in politics and economics though, not in anything material. Culture needs to be rebuilt from the ground up realizing that one of it's key ideas is completely false.

In other words, race doesn't matter, because it isn't real. It's reality socially and culturally is of course a significant thing, and not something to just swat aside. Ideas of race are entrenched in our minds, and are important to a lot people's histories, so we need to carefully and diligently undo those cultural ideas.

[kB0]

Race illusions was def not started by Americans, read up on your history before you speak plz.

I agree with your anti-racism protest, but disagree with your history knowledge.

Slavery originated in Europe. It's a known fact. thus race and it's justifications came from that. Over the years each developed their own reason to justify it, and all of them were a bunch of idiots.

People need to stop blame US for everything:)

[andreborges73]

for me the race of the chareters doens't matters in gaming, i just want a good personofication, a good history behind it
But its very true that exist low of black chareters in gaming

[andreborges73]

in this case, remember me chareter in my opinion doen't apere to have black skin, its dark not black

[NeXXXuS]

Pulling the racism card on video games? Something is incredibly stupid here.

[snowman2149]

When the game was first revealed I didn't even bother to think "Oh shes black..wait a minute" that NEVER occurred to me and it doesn't matter, she's a good looking character(very sexy) and she seems to have an interesting story and the game itself looks cool so WHO CARES if she is black it simply doesn't matter, would the story of the game change if she was white? Probably not, does that mean that the character has no distinguishing qualities? Probably but we haven't played the full game and we dont know her full story

[brettski]

I would never buy a game with a black lead character ;)

[Ippiki Okami]

....yeah because your a racist douche from utah. Go back to cattle humping fegget.

[No_Pantaloons]

Shes not black. I'm mixed 50% black/white and i'm darker than her. I'm good at telling mixed races too since most my family is, and I'm sure when I say she would not be African American. She'd be mixed "something".

In fact if you pause it at 1:21, the wanted poster drawing clearly shows her as Caucasian.

As for if it matters, I'd say not unless they're trying to draw attention to promote the game. And if they're listening to racist youtube comments, they're already on the wrong path.

[squallcloud9]

Well, black is beautiful, and the racist minority who thinks otherwise does not belong in this age.

[skydragoonity]

She aint black!! Aint no black woman wit no junk in her trunk ;)

[Cueil]

if she's black can you take off the fake hair?

[bluetoto]

Of course race matters, otherwise we would have TONS of non-white main characters. Most of the black characters act like devs just watches fox news and decided that's how we all behave. very off putting and I hope it changes next gen.

[Enigma_2099]

Nice to see them change it up from the typical male caucasian lead, but no. Race doesn't matter. Diversity overall can take a back seat to just making the main character of the game interesting.